Becoming a New Year Bride…for Christ

Eighteen years ago today it was Y2K New Year’s Eve. I remember my friend’s mom storing up water and food under her stairs. We all kind of wondered if the hype would live up to it’s name. However, I forgot about all of it that evening.

My boyfriend made me dinner and gave me 12 gifts. One of those gifts was a slip of paper with Ephesians 5:25 referenced on it: “Husbands, loves your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” He got down on one knee, and promised to give up his life for me, if I would agree to be his wife. We celebrated our engagement at midnight and the world around us kept spinning.

The next morning, we sat down and began to plan. The race was on against all the other new engaged couples to pick our venue for the reception, book the church, find our photographer, videographer, scripture readers, florist, caterer, baker, and secure our friends and family as bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, and musicians. We went to our church’s marriage counseling, and attended a Family Life weekend for engaged couples. We read books, and had parties and showers. I shopped for bridesmaid dresses, tuxedos, candles, bows, and a bridal dress. We hired a deejay for the party and bought a candy “toss” bouquet and garter and planned the wedding-worship service, making bulletins, photo montages, purchased gifts for our wedding party, and settled in our new possessions in what was soon to be our home. We planned our honeymoon and dreamed about life as a married couple.

Our lives were literally wrapped around preparations for our wedding day. One day, almost six months after our engagement and close to the wedding, I was talking to my boss who wanted me to develop and wrap up a new product for a series we had been working on developing for churches around the country. We were talking about graphics and marketing, and she looked at me and asked if I could get it done by the deadline. I remember looking quite hollowly back in her face and saying, “No. I can’t do it. At all. I can’t make the deadline, and I can’t even work on this project anymore.” I walked to my desk and packed up and took PTO until my wedding. I was totally taken up in my role as bride and the wedding and feast to come. There was no more band-width for a single other detail.

How about you? Do you remember your wedding prep? Do you remember going to the salon to practice your hair? Registering for gifts? Working on your relationship with the one you loved and with whom you were preparing to spend your life? I’m sure yours was similar to ours.

I love the picture of the church as the Bride of Christ. He is our bridegroom, preparing a place for us. The verses my now husband, chose to use to promise his life to me, are a symbol for the marriage we have to our Lord and Savior Jesus. He lovingly and sacrificially has chosen the church…as broken as she is…to be His bride. His faithfulness to us is clear. Our job is to wait faithfully and prepare ourselves for the wedding feast that will take place when we see Him face-to-face. Ephesians 5:24 talks to us, the church, about our submission to Christ as we wait for His return.

Revelation 19:1-9 states, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

I love the idea of a fresh start to a New Year. 2018 is ahead of us and it’s a time to think through goals, start healthy habits, organize our lives. I want to issue a challenge to you as you walk into this new year.

Have you become Christ’s bride? Is your name written in His book of life? Will you be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb? If you aren’t sure, receive your invitation today.

A. Accept that you have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Accept that you need cleaning and salvation and understand that your lack of perfection has a wage or payment to be paid and the payment is death. (Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8)

B. Believe your sin has stained you so deeply that your own death, and your own works will not be sufficient payment for your brokenness. Believe that Jesus lived a sinless, perfect live and became your substitute for sin when He died on the cross. (II Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 8:17, I Peter 2:23-25, Mark 10:45, Romans 5:6, I Timothy 2:6, I Peter 2:24, I Peter 3:18)

C. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved. Confess Him as Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:13, Romans 10:9)

If you have done this, let someone know right away, and begin your journey of faith. If you have already made this commitment in your life…rejoice! And accept my challenge to you:

2. Live as a newly engaged bride to Jesus. Become so consumed in loving Him, serving Him and preparing for the day you will be united to Him as His bride that everything else in your life fades in importance. Give Him your energy in time and worship. Give Him your first fruits in your finances. Seek Him in everything. Read and study His precious word and talk to Him in prayer. Talk to everyone in your path about your Bridegroom who is preparing your wedding feast. Be found in Him, not having a righteousness of your own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ…the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith (Phil. 3:9).

I beg you not to wait, to be found in Christ, or to run your race for His name’s sake. Following Christ means sacrifice for many of us. But the reward when we face Him, and make no mistake, we WILL face Him…sooner than later…will be great when we enter into His rest. Join me in the challenge to live for Him, make Him known, and prepare the Bride for His return. Happy New Year! Have a blessed 2018. Come, Lord Jesus, come!